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For almost 2 and a half years, a handful of the animé forums' best (which may or may not be a compliment) have helped me nurture what was once nothing more than a one off jab about a certain pokémon's extremely uncreative name, and let it blossom into the cheesy in-joke we all know and love which has, by all rights, been done to death by this point.
But it was ours. And it was fun. Whether it was 'exaggerating' his unmatched greatness, finding nouns and adjectives to follow the word 'Muku' or building small shrines dedicated to him in the back of our closets, it provided a small ray of light in otherwise dark animé forum times. And hooo boy, could it ever get dark.
I think, in a way, it helped us appreciate Muku.BIRD not only as a pokémon, but as a character too. We've learned to enjoy it's bizarre antics, wacky voice and, when push came to shove, bad arse battlin'. So thanks guys, for helping me find a favourite character and getting a significant amount of smiles and chuckles from my personage.

Now lets whip out some Bippa Rays and blast some Spanish Korobooshi before they leave Blards all over my nice clean floor tiles.

In the end, if you’ve gotta go, you’ve gotta go. And god damn. He sure went out in class.
Yes sir, it was a brilliant episode all round, despite the casualty of James' only specified pokémon training path being reduced to comic relief fodder. But even that proved to be entertaining enough to warrant a pass. I just can’t say no to some ballistic laughter and a dragonfly getting hit by a gust like it were a ton of bricks.

I’m sure most of you consider the rehashing of plots to be tedious, and admittedly, I was a little apprehensive when I first heard of this episode.
But after watching it, I’m convinced that these seemingly pointless poke ringer competitions have the potential to be used in the future. If anything, this episode proved that it could be just as entertaining as a regular battle, and hey! James might get to do something more than once in a while! That’d be an interesting development, huh?

I was expecting something good from Muku.MID-AIR SONIC vs. Al Ca-crow-ne (groan), and what we were given certainly didn't disappoint. Muku certainly did an admirable job of clamming up the naysayer’s who claimed it weak, with it's admirable show of agility and endurance, taking a pounding from the Don and still managing to out speed it several times throughout the mid-air duel. Watching this made me look back on the battles against Gardenia’s Turtwig and wonder how this could be the same bird that couldn’t lay a hit on Nay-WHOA female edition.

It wasn't too shabby against Skarmory either, although it was rather painful watching it get pounded from a distance by long range attacks throughout the majority of the bout. Wouldn't have hurt Ash to pull off a Whirlwind to either blow the Sand Attack away or force Skarmory to the ground.

I'm sure it's mostly my Muku.INNER FANBOY getting the best of me here, but this entire fight had me on the edge of my seat. With Ash's track record with Shinji and the sudden evolution, this was anyone's game. Even when Muku's former eyeballs were plucked from his dented cranium to be switched out with spaghetti loops, and his curly lock replaced with the blood drenched hairstyle associated with the emotionally challenged, it still didn't feel like a sure thing.
There were moments where I was edging towards Honchkrow winning, just to keep Shinji ahead of Ash once more.
Slapping the ring away from Honchkrow's beak at the last second may have been similar to Swellow's finishing move in the previous pokéringer, but god damn if it weren’t twice as awesome.
You guys probably know by now that I’m all for attacks that rely on good ol’ fashioned melee combat instead of glowing limbs, so Close Combat in particular I was glad to see. Especially that brutal looking kick to Honchkrow’s face mid-descent. Ooh, that’s gotta hoit.

Shinji turning up here was definitely the best idea these guys have had in a long while. This had the potential to be pretty mediocre, but they really went all out to make sure the end result would make for a memorable aerial animation.

I can't wait to see Staraptor in a great battle, it looks amazing. I also wait to see more pictures of it :3. But I hope that Staraptor's voice actor in English will be a little less annoying than Staravia's was, haha.

from looking at the pics Dragonites trainer looked like the best OC of the day, too bad Dragonite got ko'ed by Honchkrow, how the mighty have fallen it seems..and what the heck was the first attack dragonite used, it looked like energy ball but it couldn't have been it.

Dang Staraptor is big..makes me wonder if it'll be sticking around post sinnoh since at that size it can definite carry Ash around if he wanted it too, intresting that it learned close combat in this episode too, and boy kicking someone in the jaw is always nice to watch, here's hoping if Chimchar evolves he gets the move too.

Paul seemed kinda shallow in this episode, i agree with dman dustin, it's like he hardly realised Ash was there until they came to fight each other and he didn't seem to care that he lost to Ash either, where's the competitiveness here?

on a final note, i thought it was rather amusing that both a Noctowl and a Swellow were participants in the contest, not to mention Starpator won the EXACT same way swellow did by knocking the ring the goal post with it's wings, could we be more original Ash? And Mamoswine eating all the food reminded me of Snorlax gulping down the pokefood after the sumo contest, lots of throwbacks, good action, and a decent episode overall compared to the previous weeks.

From the pics, it does seem to be an awesome episode. Staraptor was huge which made me really happy. I think size-wise it's like,

Ranger's one > Ash's one > Reggi's one > Jun's one > Rowan's one

Heck! Rowan's bird is tiny. It was hardly larger than staravia.
I found it amusing too how they decided to showcase both noctowl and swellow. Only if pidgeot was there, that would have made it a complete set.

from looking at the pics Dragonites trainer looked like the best OC of the day, too bad Dragonite got ko'ed by Honchkrow, how the mighty have fallen it seems..and what the heck was the first attack dragonite used, it looked like energy ball but it couldn't have been it.

We've seen Pikachu take down a Dragonite- and Honchkrow's pretty strong!

And I'm liking how Staraptor also has that post-evolution size issue which every pokemon seems to get. Remember Glalie, Kingler, Gliscor, Charizard, Mamoswine and probably numerous others who were massive in their first appearances and smaller when they needed to fit into the group scenes without sticking out too badly?

Lets see
Chimchar
Piplup
Are next to evolve On bulbapedia I think chimmy is evolving in the snover episode. And I am pretty sure piplup will evolve I MEAN we never saw snoeunt/glalie in a movie and piplup is a new mascot I think.

wow just saw the episode soooooooooooooooo awesome Staraptor pawning Honchkrow with close combat and brave bird pure awesome. and also an awesome episode.

btw, james did enter with yanmega but lost against a SKIPLOOM. LOL that was shocking really. and i was kinda shock and awkward that both noctowl and swellow are also in the contest cponsidering ash have them. oh! men no gliscor.

the prize was a trophy and some special pokemon foods and actually mamoswine ate it quickly and even dawn's pokemon can't even get a hand on it.

We've seen Pikachu take down a Dragonite- and Honchkrow's pretty strong!

It took three other pokemon besides Pikachu to take Dragonite down though, i love it how overtime pokemon that were superior in the early days fall from the grace the once had and become whipping dogs for the newer gen guys.

Originally Posted by uber gon

Heh Mamoswine sure is a glutton, isn't she/he.

yep, and like i said earlier it seemed like abit of a throwback to when Snorlax ate all that food after winning the sumo contest.

FINALLY Ash beats Paul at something.

Yet Paul didn't seem to care, heck he didn't really say all that much during the episode and really only showed emotion when Staravia evolved and then Staraptor used Close Combat and proceeded to kick Honchkrow's skull in with it's feet.

Kinda of a shame they had the birds fight now, cause it was kinda epic which makes it hard to see them fight like that ever again, even at the league.

And at least Ash mentions he plans to use Staraptor at the next gym which should kick butt

The tributes in this thread are just...*sniff*...BEAUTIFUL. I haven't even seen the episode yet. I woke up hung-over at a friend's house and just got back to my own. But nonetheless, I have found time to whip up the following, but it's lengthy and will eat up your memory.BE WARNED: Spoiler:- :

Muku.BIRD
2006 – 2009

Ladies in gentlemen, we in the Pokemon fandom mourn a terrible loss today. Everyone’s favorite brain-damaged birdbrain had given us all our share of enjoyment. Whenever self-esteem was dashed or another sack of brain cells was burst by ramming into a stump, the rest of us would all laugh WITH Mukubird, not AT him.

Mukubird was a creature of many talents. In addition to being the generic regional second-stage bird Pokemon, Mukubird acquired the powers of a lawn mower, a doorbell, a dancer, a milk maid, a crazed lover, and even occasionally God, among other things.

Muku.BIRD was challenged, however, by his physical and mental awkwardness. In addition to his innovative Special Ed hairdo, the bird never truly recovered from his classic case of “Aipom to the Head”.

But none of his friends judged him or thought any less of him for it. We all enjoyed hearing him shriek, “MUKUWAAAHH!!” at the most appropriate and inappropriate moments.

Through the good times and the bad, we laughed and cried with Mukubird. Whether the day ended in victory over a Machoke or defeat by Spearmint gum, his experience gave us all life lessons in determination and fun ways to clean gum out of your hair/fur/feathers.

We never judged Muku.BIRD in spite of his many mental flaws or lack of coordination, nor did Mukubird judge anyone else for being so very inferior to him in the area of awesomeness. If only we were all more like Mukubird, then this world would be a more dysfunctional place.

In the end, Mukubird’s time with us may have been short, but we can say that without regret, we enjoyed every minute of the bird’s screentime. He may be a badass now, but he will never again be the lopsided bundle of carefree joy and mishaps we came to know and love him as.

We will miss you, our good birdbrained friend. Keep on flying.

I'll have an actual review later, but I felt like getting this out of the way first so that the content of said review will actually be paid attention to.

Ladies in gentlemen, we in the Pokemon fandom mourn a terrible loss today. Everyone’s favorite brain-damaged birdbrain had given us all our share of enjoyment. Whenever self-esteem was dashed or another sack of brain cells was burst by ramming into a stump, the rest of us would all laugh WITH Mukubird, not AT him.

Mukubird was a creature of many talents. In addition to being the generic regional second-stage bird Pokemon, Mukubird acquired the powers of a lawn mower, a doorbell, a dancer, a milk maid, a crazed lover, and even occasionally God, among other things.

Muku.BIRD was challenged, however, by his physical and mental awkwardness. In addition to his innovative Special Ed hairdo, the bird never truly recovered from his classic case of “Aipom to the Head”.

But none of his friends judged him or thought any less of him for it. We all enjoyed hearing him shriek, “MUKUWAAAHH!!” at the most appropriate and inappropriate moments.

Through the good times and the bad, we laughed and cried with Mukubird. Whether the day ended in victory over a Machoke or defeat by Spearmint gum, his experience gave us all life lessons in determination and fun ways to clean gum out of your hair/fur/feathers.

We never judged Muku.BIRD in spite of his many mental flaws or lack of coordination, nor did Mukubird judge anyone else for being so very inferior to him in the area of awesomeness. If only we were all more like Mukubird, then this world would be a more dysfunctional place.

In the end, Mukubird’s time with us may have been short, but we can say that without regret, we enjoyed every minute of the bird’s screentime. He may be a badass now, but he will never again be the lopsided bundle of carefree joy and mishaps we came to know and love him as.

The tributes in this thread are just...*sniff*...BEAUTIFUL. I haven't even seen the episode yet. I woke up hung-over at a friend's house and just got back to my own. But nonetheless, I have found time to whip up the following, but it's lengthy and will eat up your memory.BE WARNED: Spoiler:- :

Muku.BIRD
2006 – 2009

Ladies in gentlemen, we in the Pokemon fandom mourn a terrible loss today. Everyone’s favorite brain-damaged birdbrain had given us all our share of enjoyment. Whenever self-esteem was dashed or another sack of brain cells was burst by ramming into a stump, the rest of us would all laugh WITH Mukubird, not AT him.

Mukubird was a creature of many talents. In addition to being the generic regional second-stage bird Pokemon, Mukubird acquired the powers of a lawn mower, a doorbell, a dancer, a milk maid, a crazed lover, and even occasionally God, among other things.

Muku.BIRD was challenged, however, by his physical and mental awkwardness. In addition to his innovative Special Ed hairdo, the bird never truly recovered from his classic case of “Aipom to the Head”.

But none of his friends judged him or thought any less of him for it. We all enjoyed hearing him shriek, “MUKUWAAAHH!!” at the most appropriate and inappropriate moments.

Through the good times and the bad, we laughed and cried with Mukubird. Whether the day ended in victory over a Machoke or defeat by Spearmint gum, his experience gave us all life lessons in determination and fun ways to clean gum out of your hair/fur/feathers.

We never judged Muku.BIRD in spite of his many mental flaws or lack of coordination, nor did Mukubird judge anyone else for being so very inferior to him in the area of awesomeness. If only we were all more like Mukubird, then this world would be a more dysfunctional place.

In the end, Mukubird’s time with us may have been short, but we can say that without regret, we enjoyed every minute of the bird’s screentime. He may be a badass now, but he will never again be the lopsided bundle of carefree joy and mishaps we came to know and love him as.

We will miss you, our good birdbrained friend. Keep on flying.

I'll have an actual review later, but I felt like getting this out of the way first so that the content of said review will actually be paid attention to.